Cannabis is a plant that belongs to the Cannabaceae family. It's native to Central or South Asia, or to be more specific, China. Here's how it has taken its route around the world until it became legalized. Now you can find cannabis in dispensaries throughout Portland today.
How Cannabis Usage Evolved
Cannabis is exploited industrially for the quality of its fibers in the form of “agricultural hemp“ and is often low in psychotropic principle (THC). Meanwhile, cannabis intended for recreational or medicinal uses is rich in psychotropic (THC).
Many cannabis lines have been created by humans by hybridization between subspecies or varieties of the genus, by a selection of plants, or by cuttings that allows them to be cloned identically. Thus, the plants are sorted according to the use that one wishes to make of them. These can be the quality of their fibers, the richness in oil of their seeds (hemp seed), their low rate of THC, or, on the contrary, their high concentration of cannabinoids for medical or recreational use.
Hemp was widely used throughout its history. It has rubbed shoulders with human beings since the Neolithic period. However, it was gradually regulated or even banned during the 20th century. This was because of its effects on health or for political reasons, such as Puritanism in the United States.
The cultivation of agricultural hemp experienced a rebound in the 1970s, in parallel with the increase in the price of oil. It was also favored by the emergence of new outlets and environmental awareness. With 47,000 hectares cultivated in 2017, Morocco is the main cannabis producer in the world, ahead of Mongolia (15,000 hectares).
Recreational cannabis is considered a "soft" drug because it is almost impossible to overdose on THC. Cannabis can nevertheless induce psychological dependence, but not physical as in the case of so-called "hard" drugs. Studies have also shown that regular cannabis use in adolescents is likely to promote the onset of psychotic disorders.
Legalization
The recreational use of cannabis is today authorized in several states of the United States, as well as in Uruguay and Canada, which in June 2018, was the first G7 country to vote for its legalization. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 180 million people used recreational cannabis at least once in 2017.
In 1973, Oregon became the first state in America to decriminalize the possession of marijuana in small quantities. Also, in 1998, the state was the second to authorize the medical prescription sale.
And since January 2016, cannabis has been declared legal for adults, for recreational purposes, and for growing in their gardens in the US. This definitely saw the first cannabis dispensary in Portland, Oregon two years after.
Origanally published at - https://buzzbox-cannabisdispensary.blogspot.com/2022/12/history-of-cannabis-plant-from-asia-to.html
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